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Stuffed and roasted courgette flowers with sauce vierge
Serves SERVES 6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 150g good-quality ricotta, drained
- 100g soft goats’ cheese
- 30g parmesan, freshly grated
- 1 egg
- 22 basil leaves, finely chopped
- 4 sprigs oregano, leaves removed and finely chopped
- zest of 1 lemon
- 18 courgette flowers, some or all with small courgettes attached
- 2tbsp olive oil
For the sauce vierge
- 75ml extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed to a fine paste with a little salt
- 25g anchovy fillets, chopped
- 200g mixed orange and yellow tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- juice of ½ lemon
- 12 basil leaves, chopped
- 10g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Method
Put the ricotta in a bowl and whisk in the goats’ cheese, parmesan and egg. Mix in the herbs, lemon zest and season to taste. Chill for around 1 hour or overnight to firm up.
To fill the courgette flowers, prepare them one at a time. Gently open out the flower and nip out the stamen from the centre. Put about 1 heaped tsp of mixture in each flower and, when they are all done, fold the petals over and twist the tops a little. Chill on a foil-lined and oiled baking tray for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Brush the courgettes (not the flowers) with oil and roast for about 12 minutes until just warmed through and lightly roasted.
Make the sauce vierge just before you are ready to serve. Warm the oil, garlic and anchovies together in a small pan on a very low heat (you don’t want them to fry). Take off the heat, add the tomatoes and leave for a few minutes to infuse. Season and add the lemon juice and chopped herbs. Serve with the courgettes.
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